The Sherman Health Sciences Research Centre has transformed a former York University hockey arena into a state-of-the-art research facility that is the class of its field in Canada.

The $11.5 million retrofit project, made possible through a $5 million investment by York University Foundation board member Honey Sherman and her husband Barry Sherman, president and chief executive officer of Apotex Inc., brings scientists studying the brain and vision, biomechanics, virtual reality and robotics together under one roof.

Beyond its role in enabling York to recruit and retain top calibre vision science and health science researchers, the Sherman Centre increases the intensity of York’s research that will lead to new discoveries, health diagnoses and treatments.

The Neuroimaging Laboratory Suite

The Sherman Health Science Research Centre’s centerpiece is a neuroimaging laboratory suite that features the latest functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) technology. This facility gives York’s researchers in-house access to this technology, which has many applications to human health. Read an overview of the facility.

York researchers are using it to study such areas as dyslexia, migraines, aging, monocular blindness, movement disorders, schizophrenia, multiple sclerosis and traumatic brain injury.

Visit these individual researchers' websites to learn how fMRI technology is advancing their research projects:

York is home to the Centre for Vision Research (CVR), an international leader in vision and brain research. The Sherman Centre’s first floor provides additional space and high-tech laboratories for CVR members across York’s departments, including psychology, computer science & engineering, biology, and kinesiology & health science. Their work has implications for health issues such as strokes, migraines, brain disorders and autism, and applications across a variety of sectors, including human security, medical and assistive devices, aerospace and other industries.

The building’s second floor is home to researchers from the Faculty of Health’s School of Kinesiology & Health Science, including several professors who specialize in biomechanics. Their research explores topics ranging from ergonomics, obesity and lifestyle choices, and preventing spinal and musculoskeletal injuries in the workplace.

The Sherman Health Science Research Centre transformed a former hockey arena, originally built in 1968, into a highly sophisticated research centre incorporating green building design and construction elements.